Laughing Salesman HD Completed

Today, another milestone: the last group of high-definition TV episodes for Laughing Salesman (Warau Salesman) has been released. The TV series is complete in HD, all 103 episodes. There will be a batch Sometime Soon™, but I don't see any pending changes or issues for the scripts.

The team barely made it to the finish line. It wasn't a large group to begin with, and over five years, people dropped out or got caught up in real life. In particular, the rework of the first 25 episodes from DVD to HD was a slog. Two more specials are essentially complete, but I don't know when or if the remaining 17 specials will get done.

The team for the HD releases and specials was:

• Translation or translation check: kokujin-kun.
• Timing: sangofe, ninjacloud.
• Editing and typesetting: Collectr.
• QC: Calyrica, Skr, konnakude, Eternal_Blizzard, sangofe, pheon18, Mamo-chan, Nemesis, BeeBee.
• Encoding: BakaProxy.
• Raw provider: Skr.
  

I'll leave the last word to Moguro Fukuzou:

"Don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day..."

Thanks for watching.

 

This Is Where I Came In...

I just had the pleasure of editing the Blu-ray version of episode 58 of Yawara! - the last one I had never touched (or seen) before - and then picking up the Blu-ray version of episode 59, where I started on the project more than ten years ago. Now I've seen (and edited) all 124 episodes, the movie, and the TV special. It's been a fun ride.

I've written more than enough about Yawara! In my post on the Blu-ray version of the Atlanta special, I described the main voice actors in the series. Here I'd like to focus on some of the smaller parts. These include some of Yawara's competitors at events and the members of Fujiko's scratch judo team at Mitsuba Women's College:

• Satou Ai (Kristen Adams) played many maternal roles, including Light's mother in Death Note, Masami's mother in Wedding Peach, Misaki's mother in Dear Brother, Ban's mother in Getbackers, Shigeru's mother in Noramimi, the unnamed mothers in Cinderella Express, Ai Monogatari, and Guyver: Out of Control, as well as Kristin Adams in Yawara!. Other roles include the refined mother in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Ibuki's mother in Kiss wa Me ni Shite, Taichi in The Cake Tree in the Ruins, the narrator in The Boy and the Sea Turtle, The Mother Who Became a Kite, and Kiku and the Wolf, and the unnamed girlfriend in Lunn Flies into the Wind, all Orphan releases.
• Mine Atsuko (Tohdoh Yuki) played Miwa, the artist's wife, in Lunn Flies into the Wind and Maris' mother in Maris the Choujo, both Orphan release, as well as numerous featured roles in other series.
• Ichijou Miyuki (Jody Rockwell) played Akane in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, an Orphan release, and appeared in several Detective Conan movies.
• Sasaki Run (Belkens) played Himiko in Izumi (1991), an Orphan release.
• Mizutani Yuko (Anna Tereshkova) played Pinoko in all the Black Jack properties, as well as Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Lila in Eien no Filena, Hitomi in Milky Passion: Dougenzaka - Ai no Shiro, and Dr. Uematsu Kikue in Yume Kakeru Kougen, all Orphan projects.
• Suzuki Mei (Minamida Yoko, aka Paddyfield) played Cross in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: Juugo Shunen Hyouryuuki, an Orphan release, and had a recurring role as Masao-kun in the Crayon Shin-chan franchise.
• Touma Yumi (Kyonkyon) played the title roles in Emma: A Victorian Romance and Baby Felix and Urd in the Aa! Megami-sama franchise. She appeared in numerous Orphan releases, including Boyfriend, Condition Green, Fukuyama Gekijou, Tezuka Osamu ga Kieta?!, Gude Crest, and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Nareudesho.

I could go on and on. For example, Hayashibara Megumi, arguably the most famous female seiyuu of the 1990s, appears in a small role, as does Hara Eriko. Like other long series of the time, Yawara! graces the resume of many seiyuu from the 80s and 90s.

Although I've now come full circle on the project, I don't have any intention of dropping out, but... It's taken six years to get this far on the BD project - less than ten episodes per year. At this rate, the project won't finish for another seven years. By then, I'd be 82 or thereabouts. No one can foretell the future, but that's really pushing the demographic odds. The Blu-ray project simply has to move faster - or it has to get a different editor. I'm not being alarmist; I'm being realistic. Maybe the second half will go faster, because the scripts are in better shape. But one never knows... do one?

 

Sangokushi Dai Ni Bu Choukou Moyu! (HD)

Here, after an unconscionable delay, is the HD version of the second movie in the Sangokushi trilogy, 1993's Sangokushi Dai Ni Bu Choukou Moyu! (Sangokushi: The Yangtze Is Burning!). It covers roughly 13 years, from Cao Cao's victory over Lu Bu in 198 CE, through the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 CE, and the aftermath up until 211 BCE. As other players are swept from the board, the story focuses on Liu Bei and his increasingly desperate attempts to prevent Cao Cao from seizing all of China. The turning point is Liu Bei's recruitment of the best strategic mind of that generation, Zhuge Kongming, the Crouching Dragon. Kongming orchestrates an alliance of convenience between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, the ruler of the emerging southern kingdom of Wu, as they seek to stop Cao Cao's "million man army" from rolling over all of China. Their victory over Cao Cao at Red Cliffs and Liu Bei's seizure of the southwest as his realm create the Three Kingdoms that give the era its name. 

However, reaching that point is not easy. Liu Bei experiences setback after setback, even after recruiting Kongming. At more than one point in the story, with his fortunes at a low ebb, he describes himself as a failure. Still, he is able to retain the loyalty of his core set of warriors and even expand their number, when the mighty Zhao Yun enlists to serve the cause. Kongming first has to engineer multiple escapes from Cao Cao's hordes, but then he is able to seize the initiative and pull together the coalition that would finally check Cao Cao's ambitions... and create the opening for Liu Bei's ambitions to rule.

I have had great difficulty finishing the Sangokushi HD releases. The first was released in May, after languishing at my final checks for months. This one has also been on the slow train. Whenever I start to watch one of these movies, my interest flags almost immediately, and I turn to something else - writing blog posts, working on other shows, playing Solitaire - almost anything else, in fact. I think I finally understand why.

These movies are grand historical romances, painted on an epic canvas, but the characters are as two-dimensional as the animation. Liu Bei is noble; Kongming is clever; Lihua is a traditional wife. They're utterly unengaging. Or to put it another way, Liu Bei is a prig, Kongming is a showoff, and Lihua is a subservient cipher. The only characters with any complexity are Cao Cao - who can mingle inordinate ambition with inexplicable chivalry in the same gesture - and Guan Yu - who conveys the difficulty of trying to follow principles when the political landscape is constantly shifting under his feet. When they're not on screen, everything is cut-and-dried histrionics. However, the battle sequences are excellent, particularly the climactic naval engagement at Red Cliffs.

Sangokushi Dai Ni Bu Choukou Moyu! retains the same actors for Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu as the first movie. The major new seiyuu are:

• Yamaguchi Takashi (Kongming) was primarily an actor and a presenter. The Sangokushi movies are his only anime roles. 
• Shibata Hidekatsu (Sun Quan) played Baron Ashura in Mazinger Z, Kenzou Kabuto in Great Mazinger, King Bradley in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Third Hokage in Naruto. He played the hero's father in Dragon Fist and the voice of God in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, both Orphan releases.
• Hori Hideyuki (Zhao Yun) played Zach Isedo in Al Caral no Isan, Sid in Ai no Kusabi, Falk Green in Hi-Speed Jecy, and Baraba in Eien no Filena, all Orphan projects. He played the title role in Baoh, Phoenix in the Saint Seiya franchise, and Tezuka Osamu himself in the Black Jack TV series.
• Sugiyama Kazuko (Xiulan, Kongming's housekeeper and eventual wife) played Heidi  in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Ganmo in Gu-Gu Ganmo, Ten-chan in Urusei Yatsura, Akane Kimidori in Dr. Slump and Arale-chan, and Korosuke in Kiteretsu Daihyakka.
• Yara Yuusaku (Zhou Yu, Wu's commander-in-chief) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.

As with the first movie, the supporting cast is vast, but most are onscreen only for a short time. The musical score for all three movies is by Yokoyama Seiji, a prolific composer of anime scores, including the Saint Seiya franchise and Magical Taruruuto-kun.

Iri translated all three movies, which are the equivalent of a two-cour TV series. Yogicat timed the originals and tweaked the timing for the new raws. I edited and typeset (twice). BeeBee and Topper3000 QCed the original release; TougeWolf did a thorough check of this one. The encoder asked to remain anonymous.

So as I wrote the first time, gird your loins, pad your bottom, and go watch Sangokushi Dai Ni Bu Choukou Moyu! in glorious HD. You can get the movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Kageyama Tamio no Double Fantasy

Kageyama Tamio was a Japanese actor and writer. He is probably best known to anime audiences for his book Coo: Tooi Umi Kara Kita Coo, which was adapted by Toei in 1993 as Coo of the Far Seas. He was also a judge on the Japanese TV series Iron Chef for years. He died in 1990 in a mysterious fire at his residence.

Kageyama Tamio no Double Fantasy is a 1994 two-part TV special drawn from his stories. The first segment is comedy; the second, horror. Both are excellent. It's hard to understand why this show has languished in obscurity for more than 25 years.

First up is "Psychedelic Airlines." A young couple on their honeymoon discover, to their horror, that they left their tickets to Saipan at home. (Remember real airline tickets? I thought not.) Faced with a long delay or cancellation of their dreams, they are enticed by an absurdly low fare to book a round trip on "Psychedelic Airlines." This proves to be the ultimate in low-cost carriers: an ancient, cargo-carrying. purple DC-3 without seats, heating, or food. In the true spirit of today's low-cost carriers, everything is extra: seats, blankets, even cups for the "free" tea.

Further, the plane goes wherever is has to in order to deliver its cargo, so it's a flight from Tokyo to Saipan via Hokkaido, Kanazawa, Maibara, and Shikine-jima, taking four days (the plane can't fly at night). Add to that a near-fatal encounter with a thunderstorm, and it's truly the flight from hell. Will our young protagonists, and their even younger marriage, survive the ordeal?

The second segment is "South Pacific Hotel." A Japanese photographer, Hanezawa, and his assistant, Yoshino, are offered too much money to take photographs on Saipan, with one condition: they must stay at the South Pacific Hotel. When they arrive on Saipan, the locals are puzzled by their choice of accommodations and suggest, indirectly, that they stay somewhere else. But the photographer insists.

When he and his assistant arrive the South Pacific Hotel, they find an imposing but dingy and dark building, with a chilly desk clerk and no other guests. Their rooms seem to be haunted. They try to call for a taxi to change hotels, but the phone doesn't work; all they can hear are incoherent, military-sounding voices. During the night, other visitors do arrive, but they are unexpected and unwanted. The photographer tries to flee back to Japan, but it is already too late to get away from "paradise."

The voice cast is excellent:

• Aihara Yuu (ep1 - Yurie) is a singer. Her only other anime role was in Kattobase! Dreamers.
• Horikawa Ryuu (ep1 - Yurie's husband) played Shutendou in Shuten Douji, Shinya in Okama Report, Vegeta in Dragon Ball, Naoto in Slow Step, Anthony Brown in Candy Candy, Reinhard in LOGH, Tadao in Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Kai in Kizuna, and Andromeda in Saint Seiya. He also appeared in Chameleon, Hi-Speed Jecy, Lunn Flies into the Wind, and the first two Sangokushi movies, all Orphan releases.
• Ogata Kenichi (ep1 - friendly customer; ep2 - driver) played the put-upon father in  Maroko, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, Chichi's father in Chiisana Koi no Monogatari, and the Narrator/Lord of Kaga in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases. He also played Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums.
• Yamada Reiko, who gives a scene-stealing performance as the flight attendant in ep1, played Lum's mother in the Urusei Yatsura franchise and Okami in Kasei Yakyoku, an Orphan release.
  
• Ikemizu Michihiro (ep2 - Hanezawa) had numerous featured roles, including the boy in Tsuki ga Noboru made ni, Zhuge Jin in the second Sangokushi movie, and Lu Xun in the third Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases.
• Chafuurin (ep2 - Yoshino) played the title role in Barbapapa Around the World, Inspector Megure in the Detective Conan franchise, Scotch Jii-san in the Hello Kitty franchise, Isono in Sazae-san (since 2014), and Kamoda in Yawara! He also appeared in Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa, Yamato 2520, Colobuccoro, and Izumo (1991), all Orphan releases.
• Yamazaki Taumi (ep2 - desk clerk) played Harada Tomohisa in Mezzo DSA and Mezzo Forte, Dera (the bird) in the Tamako Market shows, and Kasugaigarasu (another bird) in Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Terahigashi Katsumi, who did the storyboards for the first segment and directed both, worked on many of Orphan's releases, including Amatsuki, Cool Cool Bye, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Hashire Melos, and Greed, as well as mainstream shows such as Baccano, Durarara!!, and the Natsume Yuujinchou franchise. Hara Keichi, who did the storyboards for the second segment, is a Shin-Ei animation stalwart. He directed the ESPer Mami and 21 Emon TV series, several Crayon Shin-chan movies, Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi, and the 2010 version of Colorful. I also want to mention the sound design by Kobayashi Katsuyoshi, which contributes to the mood throughout but particularly in the second segment.

Iri translated Double Fantasy and did the initial timing. kokujin-kun filled in two difficult lines in the second segment. Yogicat fine-timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis, Uchuu, and Topper3000 QCed. bananadoyouwanna encoded from a 1080p web stream; the stream was too bit-starved for full HD.

So here's a real hidden gem. Orphan's done a lot of shows from the last century, and most of them are pretty ordinary. Kageyama Tamio no Double Fantasy stands out. Download and watch this one. You won't regret it, although you may think twice about visiting Saipan afterwards. You can get Double Fantasy from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Tobira o Akete

Tobira o Akete is a sword-and-sorcery fest from 1986. It's based on a 1984 short story by the Japanese fantasy and science fiction writer Mokoto Arai. It was released by Toho on a twin bill with They Were 11! It made it to DVD in Japan but was not apparently released here. Orphan is releasing a new English version, based on the Japanese DVD, with a heavily revised English script.

Tobira o Akete (Open the Door) tells the story of three Japanese ESPers - Negishi Miyako (also known as Neko), a wielder of telekinesis; Saiki Haruka, a teleporter; and Yamagishi Keiichirou, a lion-man - who are summoned across time and space to a mysterious realm. There, a local mystic, Ladin, proclaims that Neko is the reincarnation of Neryulla, the prophesied savior of the oppressed Middle Kingdom. Neko and her party are immediately attacked by guards from the ruling Western Kingdom but are able to fight them off with their ESPer powers. Later, Neko is challenged by La Midin Demida, the "demon princess" of the Eastern Kingdom. Once again, Neko holds her own, and the two become fast friends. Urged on by Ladin, Neko and Dimida rally the people of the Middle Kingdom and march against Duran III, the tyrant ruler of the Western Kingdom. There are lots of fights, both physical and magical, and even time for a bit of flirting and romance among the four young leads. However, All Is Not As It Seems™, and Neko and her friends are in for a rude surprise or three during their quest.

If Tobira o Akete sounds formulaic, like a compilation of isekai tropes, it's because it helped establish the formula. In 1986, the idea of superpowered humans going to a fantasy world with their memories of home intact was comparatively novel. So if you can forget, or at least temporarily shelve, your knowledge of what happened in the next 35 years of anime - and overlook, or at least forgive, the ass-pull plot twists - you'll find Tobira o Akete a fun ride.

The voice cast includes:

• Fujimoto Kyouko (Negishi Miyako / Neko) has no other credits.
• Inoue Kazuhiko (Saiki Haruka) starred as Yamaoka Shirou in Oishinbo, Yuki Eiri in Gravitation, the title role in Cyborg 009, and my favorite role, the irascible, sake-swilling Nyanko-sensei in the Natsume Yuujichou franchise. He also played Iori in Tomoe's Run!, Kanuma Hayate in Akai Hayate, Ryousuke in Daishizen no Majuu Bagi, Kitten Smith in Starship Troopers, Liu Bei Xuande in both Sangokushi TV specials, Ayako in Lunn Flies into the Wind, and Nakatsugawa in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
• Saito Masamichi (Yamagishi Keiichirou) appeared as Gord in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, an Orphan release.
  
• Shimada Bin (Towada) appeared in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Fukuyama Theater, Tomoe's Run! and Sangokushi, all Orphan releases. He played Ken Nakajima in the You're Under Arrest franchise and numerous other roles. He recently played Konaki Jijii and Wally Wall in the 2018 revival of GeGeGe no Kitarou.
• Hirano Fumi (La Midin Dimida) starred as Lum in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Koiko in Koiko no Mainichi, and Princess Kahm in Outlanders. She also played Lihua in the two Sangokushi TV specials and Tsugumi in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
• Nozawa Nachi (Ladin) debuted in 1967. He played Lupin in the original Lupin III pilot film, Axel von Fersen in The Rose of Versailles, Cobra in the Space Cobra franchise, and Deimos in Bride of Deimos. He also played Taka in Kasei Yakyoku, Black Jack in Marine Express and Bremen 4, and Takeru in Izumo (1991), all Orphan releases.
  

The director, Shimizu Keizou, was animation director for the Legend of the Galactic Heroes LOGH) OVA series, as well as overall director for the two LOGH movies, the LOGH Gaiden OVAs, and the LOGH revivals. He was also heavily involved in the Space Cobra series.

The original subtitles were found on the web; I don't know where they came from, although I suspect they were OCRed or transcribed from the Tomodachi fansub. Yogicat retimed them to the new raw. TougeWolf checked them, and the revisions were massive. I edited and typeset. Nemesis, Uchuu, and Topper3000 QCed. Intrepid encoded from an R2J DVD. He also encoded a version from the Japanese laserdisc, for comparison. We may release that as a raw at some point.

This version also includes the 90-second and 30-second trailers. tenkenX6 translated the trailers; the other staff credits are the same as the main movie.

There's nothing spectacularly different about Tobira o Akete, but it's better than it's low reputation among anime critics. It has a bit of gratuitous nudity - it's an 80s anime, after all - but basically, It's a straightforward fantasy quest, from an era when such fare didn't require irony, a major twist, or a reborn Japanese otaku to be marketable. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

A Long Time Coming: King Fang

About four years ago, a gentle Swede who goes by the handle GouNoKen found a rare VHS tape of the 1978 TV special Daisetsuzan no Yuusha Kibaou, known in the English-speaking world as King Fang. He reached out to two of his fansubbing penpals, Nanto of The Skaro Hunting Society (TSHS) and me, and suggested we collaborate to get it subbed. We agreed to a joint project, and by fall of 2018, the script was essentially done. And then everything fell apart.

Fansub joint projects are fragile ventures. Minor differences in styles, methods, and preferences can get blown up out of proportion. The project stalled on various issues - mostly about what I would call "house style"- and we retreated to our respective corners. At the time, I thought that stuff just happens. Or as Jimmy Buffet put it in Margaritaville, "But I know it's nobody's fault." Then... Covid.

There's nothing like a worldwide pandemic to put matters in perspective. I realized that I'd become old (I'm almost 75), cranky, and too used to getting my own way. (There was a reason why I'd chosen a grumpy panda as my avatar.) My world view was perfectly summed up by Lou and Peter Berryman song:

And I don't get it and I don't like it
Oh, I’d be the first to admit
That I don't get it and I don't like it
And you can put that in my obit

I started to think, pace Jimmy Buffet, "It might be my fault."

About a year ago, I systematically began to revisit projects that had stalled out. In the spring of 2021, I went back to the King Fang script archive and did the QC/RC I was supposed to have done. The script was in good shape, and whatever issues I might have had were unimportant. I wrote to Nanto and GouNoKen and said that we should mux the script and release the project. Both graciously agreed to proceed. Covid and Real Life complicated communications, but eventually we got to a release point. As for the three year delay... "And I know it's my own damn fault."

Anyway... Orphan and TSHS are proud to present the first English version of Daisetsuzan no Yuusha Kibaou (King Fang). The show seems to be another canine/lupine story in the mold of White Fang and Run! White Wolf, but it precedes both of them as an anime. It is based on the 1960s manga Kiba Ou by Togawa Yuko.The title character is the offspring of a Hokkaido hunting dog, Tetsu, and a European wolf, Devil, that had run away from a circus. He is raised by a little girl, Sanae, who names him Taki. However, he proves too wild for a domestic setting and ends up with Tetsu's owner, the hunter Kaneto and his son Yoshito. Ultimately, though, Taki's allegiance is to the laws of the wild.

He runs away to become leader of a pack of wild dogs. Eventually, he must face the existential challenge of confronting Gon, the one-eyed monster bear that had killed his mother.

The voice cast is from a previous era:

• Ueda Miyuki (Sanae) played Marie Antoinette in The Rose of Versailles and Erika in Toushou Daimos.
• Kinshiro Iwao (Kaneto) played Gyuumaou, the pig demon, in 1960's Saiyuuki and Vulfran Paindovoine in Perrine Monogatari, both Orphan releases.
• Yasuhara Yoshito (Yoshito) played the title role in the 1986 version of Botchan,
  Scarecrow in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (TV), Ranze's father in Tokimeki Tonight (which Orphan finished), Louis XVI in The Rose of Versailles, and the Black Knight in Tobira o Akete. He starred as Kyousuke in Techno Police 21C, an Orphan release. He continues to work and was featured recently in Golden Kamuy.
  
• Kawakubo Kiyoshi (Yoichiro, Sanae's father) played Kevin Yeager in D.gray-man and Guame in Tengen Toppe Gurren Lagann. He appeared in Rain Boy and Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I Am Son Gokuu, both Orphan releases.

The director, Okabe Eiji, also helmed the 1979 version of Anne Frank, which is not available in English.

Moho Kareshi did the original translation, and laalg checked it, one of her last projects for Orphan. Nanto edited, timed, typeset the credits, and did the final mux. I styled, QCed, and typeset the signs. GouNoKen ripped the VHS tape, and M74 encoded it. It is truly a joint project, so it has been released as [Orphan - TSHS].

This blog post seems to consist of nothing but song quotes, so I'll close with one more: "It's been a long time coming." Nonetheless, here's King Fang at last. Nanto, GoNoKen, and I hope you enjoy it. You can download the movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

 

Sensou Douwa: Kiku-chan to Ookami

Sensou Douwa (War Fables or War Tales) was a series of TV specials by Shin-Ei Animation that ran annually from 2002 to 2009. In chronological order:

• 2002    Umigame to Shounen (The Boy and The Sea Turtle)
• 2003    Tako ni Natta Okaasan (The Mother Who Became a Kite)
• 2004    Chiisai Sensuikan ni Koi o Shita Dekasugiru Kujira no Hanashi (The Tale of the Ginormous Whale That Fell in Love with a Little Submarine)
• 2005    Boku no Boukuugou (My Air Raid Shelter)
• 2006    Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki (The Cake Tree in the Ruins)
• 2007    Futatsu no Kurumi (Two Walnuts)
• 2008    Kiku-chan to Ookami  (Kiku and the Wolf)
• 2009    Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu (The Tale of the Blue-Eyed Girl)

Orphan has already released The Boy and the Sea Turtle, The Cake Tree in the Ruins, The Mother Who Became a Kite, The Tale of the Ginormous Whale That Fell in Love with a Little Submarine, and My Air Raid Shelter. Today, we're releasing Kiku-chan to Ookami (Kiku and the Wolf). Saizen has already done Two Walnuts, so there's just one more to go.

Kiku-chan to Ookami is, like most of the Sensou Douwa specials, based on a short story by Nosaka Akiyuki. It is set in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (the Chinese province of Manchuria) during the closing days of Word War II. Life for the Japanese colonists is tranquil, with none of the hazards and shortages occurring in the Japanese homeland. Then, on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union, fulfilling its obligations to the Western Allies, declares war and invades. The local Kwantung Army folds up like a house of cards, leaving the Japanese colonists exposed to the invading Russians and Chinese.

The story focuses on a typical family - Kiku, her old brothers Ko and Yo, and her mother, who is holding the family together while her husband is fighting in the army. Kiku, Ko, and Yo have nothing more serious on their minds than cadging hot sweet buns from the shop next door, but that changes when the Soviets invade. The colonists flee southward for their lives, hoping to reach Korea and be repatriated to Japan. (The Japanese in Korea were also fleeing southward, hoping to reach the American zone of control; see Ohoshi-sama no Rail.)

Kiku and her family head south by train, abandoning most of their possessions and the family dog, Belle. When the train is bombed, they are forced to continue on foot. However, Kiku falls severely ill and cannot go on. Faced with an impossible dilemma, Kiku's mother abandons her in order to continue south with her other children. Kiku becomes the target of an aging, famished she-wolf. In her delirium, Kiku mistakes the wolf for Belle, and the wolf becomes her maternal keeper. Together, they try to survive in the war-torn landscape, but the hazards are great, and the odds of success slim.

Like the other shows in the Sensou Douwa series, Kiku-chan to Ookami uses the pathos of children in danger to crusade against war, while ignoring the larger historical context. The Kwantung Army - the source of many of Japan's bellicose militarists and eventual war criminals - was a prime provocateur in sparking the Japanese invasions of China in 1931 and 1937. It used slave labor to build its installations and fortifications. Its infamous Unit 731 worked on bacteriological and chemical weapons and performed human medical experiments on prisoners. (In an equally infamous deal, the Americans pardoned the perpetrators in return for the data.) Despite its formidable reputation, the Kwantung Army was soundly defeated by the Red Army in the unofficial Soviet-Japanese border war of the late 1930s. By 1945, its best troops had been sent to defend the Pacific front; it had become a hollow shell and put up little resistance.

The Soviets captured 850,000 Japanese settlers (colonists). Most of them were repatriated to Japan in 1946 and 1947. However, orphans left behind in the confusion were adopted into Chinese families; some refused to return home under later repatriation programs. Further, stranded women that married Chinese husbands were not allowed by the Japanese government to bring their children to Japan. To the end, Japanese xenophobia and denial of responsibility trumped humanitarian action.

The voice cast includes:

• Shimamoto Sumi (Mother) debuted as Clarisse in The Castle of Cagliostro. She starred as Sara in Princess Sara, Nausicaa in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Otonashi Kyouko in Maison Ikkoku, and Dayan in Neko no Dayan. She also played Shokupanman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, Tinkerbell in Peter Pan no Bouken, Antoinette in Reporter Blues, Big Mama in Bakuretsu Hunter, Sue in Maris the Choujo, and Elice in Fire Emblem. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Nozawa Masako (Wolf) is a legend. She played the title roles in The Adventures of Gamba, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry no Bouken, Billy Inu nan demo Shoukai, and Hey! Bumboo. She was Enma-kun in the original Dororon Enma-kun, Son Goku in the original Dragonball, and Kitarou in the 1968 and 1971 versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou, as well as Hakaba Kitarou. Even though her first role was in 1965, she is still active, appearing as Obaba in Ping Pong the Animation, Madame Curie in Marie & Gali, and of course, Medama Oyaji in the most recent version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. She played the title roles in Manxmouse and The Green Cat, Isamu in Kaitei 3-Man Mile, Lek in Cool Cool Bye, and Costar in 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, all Orphan releases. She won a lifetime achievement award in 1997.
• Kawasumi Ayako (Kiku-chan) starred as Mogi in the Initial D franchise, Sakuraba in Ai Yori Aoshi, Fuu in Samurai Champloo, Sara in Gallery Fake, Lafiel in the Crest of the Stars franchise, Henrietta in the Zero no Tsukaima franchise, Saber in the Fate/Stay Night franchise, Ohno in the Genshiken series, Mahoro in the Mahoromatic franchise, and my personal favorite, Nodame in the Nodame Cantabile franchise.
• Satou Ai (narrator) played many maternal roles, including Light's mother in Death Note, Masami's mother in Wedding Peach, Misaki's mother in Dear Brother, Ban's mother in Getbackers, Shigeru's mother in Noramimi, the unnamed mothers in Cinderella Express, Ai Monogatari, and Guyver: Out of Control, as well as Kristin Adams in Yawara!. Other roles include the refined mother in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Ibuki's mother in Kiss wa Me ni Shite, Taichi in The Cake Tree in the Ruins, the narrator in The Boy and the Sea Turtle and The Mother Who Became a Kite, and the unnamed girlfriend in Lunn Flies into the Wind, all Orphan releases.
• Kumai Motoko (Yo) played Gorou Honda in the Major franchise, Ginta in Mar, Banba in Kurage-hime, Yuuna in the Stitch TV franchise, and the title roles in Gon, Gakyuu ou Yamazaki, and Papuwa. She appeared in Tezuka Osamu's In the Beginning: Tales from the Old Testament, an Orphan release.
• Yoshida Konami (Ko) played the title roles in Asobo Toy-chan and Metal Fighter Miku and the lead in Idol Fighter Su-Chi-Pai. She appeared in Akuemon, Kiss wa Me ni Shita, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases. 

The director, Hirai Minetarou, also directed two other Sensou Douwa specials, Two Walnuts and The Girl with Blue Eyes.

As he's done for all the other Sensou Douwa releases, kokujin-kun translated Kiku-chan to Ookami. Yogicat timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed. The raw is a 1080p webrip from UNEXT, rather bit-starved. kokujin-kun omits honorifics, so the translated title in the anime is Kiku and the Wolf.

Kiku-chan is an instance where my (distant) background as a historian distorts my reaction to the anime itself. The show is very moving, particularly the second half where Kiku and "Belle" are trying to survive. Nozawa Masako's performance as the wolf is both comic and poignant. The show makes it case more subtly than the blunt instrument approach of The Cake Tree in the Ruins or The Mother Who Became a Kite, but it's still effective. (Nosaka Akiyuki original short story retains the blunt instrument approach.)

You can get Kiku-chan to Ookami from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.